LING 427 TESOL Internship

Teaching Observation and Evaluation

Onsite Supervisor
Context overview
Institution: OM Lifehope
Internship student teacher: Amy Smart
Number of learners in class: 6
Date and time of class: July 14 2014, 2.00-3.30pm
Ratings:

0 = not done

1 = needs improvement

Class name or type: Pre-Intermediate 2

Onsite supervisor/observer: Andrew Harwood
Level of learners: Pre-Intermediate
Duration of observation: 90 minutes
2 = done proficiently 3 = done excellently

NA = not applicable

Content, planning, and organization

Indicator
Made clear the purpose of the
lesson from the outset
Defined relationship to earlier
lesson(s) or curriculum
Sequenced topics logically

Rating
3
3
3

Paced lesson appropriately

Responded adequately to
learner questions
Related the lesson to future
lessons

3
3

Comments
Amy made it immediately clear that the purpose of the lesson was to be able
to talk about peoples lives and achievements.
She made the link between countries in the last lesson and the opening
activity on talking about famous people from the students countries.
The coursebook sequence was changed around but still followed a logical,
considered sequence.
A suitably fast pace, with no time wasted and students kept on their toes
throughout. Excellent time management, fulfilling the lesson plan and with a
few minutes spare for students to pose questions to Amy using the grammar
learnt.
Swift and precise answers given to all questions.
Students were primed for the next lesson after a short break, talking
personally about their own or the lives of someone they know.

Presentation and delivery

Indicator
Exhibited a strong presence in
the classroom

Rating
3

Projected voice effectively

Comments
Amys teaching approach was authoritative and persuasive, expecting
learners to comply with her polite requests. She seemed a little tense at
times, but this was explained by suffering a persistent headache for several
days.
She spoke lucidly and with appropriate volume for the size of the class.

Used intonation to vary

emphasis
Explained ideas and gave
directions with clarity

Definitely.

Maintained effective eye

contact with learners
Used non-verbal gestures to
enhance communication
Defined unfamiliar terms,
concepts and principles
Presented examples to clarify
points

All her explanations were concise and clear with effective yet economical
use of the board.
Very attentive of her learners.

3
3
3

Demonstrated this, for example hand movements to illustrate the action of

painting and to explain sculpture.
Explained vocabulary and meta-language, for instance gerund as an ing
form of verbs.
Gave the very topical example of Germany winning the World Cup yesterday
to explain achievement.

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2014 Briercrest College. Observation sheet created by David Catterick

LING 427 TESOL Internship

Related new ideas to familiar
concepts
Restated important ideas at
appropriate times
Used humour appropriately to
encourage interest

3
3

She built on the students existing knowledge of infinitive and ing forms of
verbs to explain their different uses after verbs, adjectives and prepositions.
Reiterated students accurate responses to reinforce her teaching points.

Humour was very evident in preventing students looking up words when she
wanted them to think for themselves and also to get their attention.

Rating
3

Comments
Amy was very focused and directive in presenting the lesson, taking all the
class with her. She had an established rapport with them. A student willingly
prayed at the beginning.
She fully engaged and occupied her learners throughout the lesson, quickly
bringing them back to the activity in hand if their attention showed any sign
of wandering.
Whole class pedagogy and interaction, individual and swapped pairings.

Teacher-learner interactions
Indicator
Created an atmosphere
conducive to learning
Maintained student attention
throughout the lesson

Used a variety of teaching

modes
Encouraged learner-teacher
interaction

Encouraged and suitably

managed learner interaction
Responded to cues of
confusion, boredom, curiosity
Gave satisfactory answers to
learners questions
Dealt effectively with behavior
requiring discipline

3
3
3

She ensured that all students were involved in the lesson through
volunteering and being nominated for responses to questions. She
frequently repeated back corrected sentences when learners made
mistakes.
Actively monitored students during individual and pairs work.
Quickly and clearly explained again when students were confused about how
to do one activity, apologizing that she wasnt clear at first.
Answered all questions effectively and none were brushed aside.
On two occasions she politely but firmly told students to stop doing
distracting activities during the lesson.

Content knowledge
Indicator
Presented content of obvious
value to the learners

Rating
3

Chose content that would

challenge the learners

Demonstrated a command of
the subject matter

Demonstrated a strong
language awareness

Comments
Amy presented key grammatical patterns for communicating clearly in
writing and speaking.
She stretched the learners current understanding to develop their skills in
using verbs correctly in two-verb sentences and after prepositions and
adjectives.
She patently understood the differences between gerunds, infinitives,
various word classes and how to explain these in a simple and intelligible
way for her students. She could have explained that after some common
verbs a gerund or an infinitive can be used, for example like, love and hate.
She acknowledged exceptions to the rules and patterns for gerunds and
infinitives and explained imposters where adjectives and nouns give the
appearance of being ing verbs. She went on the tell students how they can
work out the word class of these ing forms.

Instructional materials
Indicator
Designed lesson around
learning goals not materials

Rating
3

Comments
Amy personalised the lesson and made it more accessible to the students
through her thorough and simplified explanations.

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2014 Briercrest College. Observation sheet created by David Catterick

LING 427 TESOL Internship

Chose materials appropriate to
needs and level of learners
Used instructional materials
that were accurate

Selected materials that were

interesting to the learners

Set homework tasks which

followed on from class work

She accurately gauged the learning needs of her students in planning her
presentation.
Basically used the coursebook, but with some adaptation and enhancement
in her teaching, which remained accurate. [One grammar point presented as
a rule by the coursebook that infinitives are used after adjectives is too
simplistic, ignoring the fact that usually a gerund is also possible, sometimes
implying a subtle change of meaning. It would be unfair to expect Amy to
challenge this from a reputable coursebook as a novice teacher.]
She creatively taught the grammar using her sketched friends Infinitive
(shaped like an I) and Gerund (shaped like a G) and their characteristics,
giving slightly simplified explanations that me the needs of a preintermediate group of students.
Assigned tasks, given after the next lesson, reinforced and practised the
grammar learnt.

Additional or summative comments

This was an impressive lesson, where comments made in the previous evaluations have been addressed. I observed nothing
significant that needs attention and was fully persuaded that Amy is a competent and effective classroom teacher, having
the pedagogical and classroom management skills required of a practitioner in the field of EFL.
As Amy becomes more experienced as an EFL teacher and uses different course and grammar reference materials she needs
to develop a critical analysis of grammar rules and patterns and how they are taught to inform her own teaching. As a native
English speaker some of this is intuitive, but she will need to be able to develop her explanations in response to students
questions, explaining differences in meaning, exceptions and common usage.
Amy has consistently taught effectively and autonomously in the classroom, completing a highly successful internship. She
has made a significant impact in helping our students communicate more effectively in English for mission and life.
In conclusion, Amy is Smart in name and a smart teacher with a bright future ahead of her in EFL teaching!
I wish Amy every success as she completes her TESOL studies and in her future career.

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2014 Briercrest College. Observation sheet created by David Catterick